A few days ago, it was announced that Microsoft was upping the stakes in their "Smoked by Windows Phone Challenge," giving away bigger prizes to winners and offering losers the opportunity to trade in their device for a new Windows Phone. It turns out that anyone can trade in just about any non-WP smartphone. Just bring a working smartphone to a participating Microsoft store and tell them you want to take the challenge. You will then be asked to fill out a recycling form and given your choice of the following devices:

This offer is only valid through tomorrow, March 29, so get a move on.

Some people have reported that you don't even need to take the challenge, but why not give it a go anyway? If you've been able to swap out your old, out dated smartphone for a new Windows Phone through this deal, let us know in the comments.

I have been talking this over on the Slickdeals thread for a couple of days. To update most people, MOST stores (not all) are out of inventory for the giveaway. They are taking your name and number and putting you on a waiting list. Some people report the lists in the hundreds of names. There is also word from some stores that being on the waiting list is a MAYBE, not for sure. So if you have the choice between getting on the list for a TITAN or walking out with a 710...1 in the hand beats two in the bush! (For my example; Some stores allow you to change companies, others do not...you will notice in reading the thread the info is very scattered.)

Windows Phone is a great OS. It's always been about getting people to actually give it a shot. I think the recent bad fragmentation of the Android market has led a bunch of them to give it a spin.
Google is going to announce Jelly Bean soon. If it does nothing to address the fragmentation issue, then I don't think it's going to really matter. How many mobile phones run Ice Cream Sandwich currently?

I just called the store in Oak Brook, Illinois. They said that they are out of phones and are now just giving out $10 gift cards because they don't know when they will be getting more phones in. So nobody in the Chicago area should be jumping in their cars right now to go get a new WP. If you're nearby and want the $10, go nuts.

On Sunday I took the challenge. I swapped my HTC Inspire Android phone running Android 4.0 for the HTC Titan. So far I love it. I have to say that I do miss a few very minor details. I was a heavy Android user for more than a year. But once I realized why things are done in the WP ui the way they are, I saw the light. Tasks are easier and I don't spend much time on checking different places for feeds and messages. I love the live tiles. I don't miss my notification panel anymore. So smooth and stable. HTC is rad as always and Windows Phone (and wpcentral) has a new proud user. The push for apps seems to be going in the right direction. I'm waiting for Cerulean to make a Trillian app for WP. My wife allso swapped out her Samsung Captivate for the Focus S. Happy all around.

I've been trying to help my sister out. She bought an iPhone (I told her to go WP7, but understand why she went iPhone) and extended her contract for 2 years. A week later it was stolen. So now she's using her crappy old non-smartphone and is locked in a contract for 2 more years and can't afford to buy a phone off-contract. Wonder if they'd let her trade her story and non-smartphone for a Trophy?

Got a Samsung Focus S for my old Nokia E71-2! Selling it on eBay to make up the money that I spent on a lumia 800 ;). Giving my telus surround to my mother to replace her iPhone so she can also take advantage of the unlimited $10 data for non smart phones! ;)

Girlfriend traded in old T-mobile Bold for a Focus S and she's gonna start to use it and replace her iPhone 4! Invading my Family with WP7! :)

i always tell my gf that my phone is so much more slick than hers and now i guess i won! :P Plus, her sister and brother in law love the Focus S she's using... wait till they see the lumia 800 i just got today! :) Her brother in law told me he regrets gettinf the G2X over the Lumia 710 and now that he saw the Focus S he regrets it even more. He said his next phone WILL be a WP7 device and is even considering getting a Focus S and using edge only on T-mobile.

How can those of us with no local stores request that this be made available to us as well? Come on Microsoft, show your WP7 fans some love, not just the people who plan to resell the new phones on eBay.....

I did the challenge yesterday. I threw my sim card into my old Blackberry and used that. The store was out of phone but they take your phone number and address and will call you when they come in. We all also got a $10 gift card to the store for the inconvienence (most of us stood in line for 3 hours or so). No contract extensions or anything, they just give you a phone and they take yours to recycle. Back up your data before going in if they do happen to have phones at your store. They do take the brand and model of phone used so they supposedly will check that when they take your phone for recycling, so bring the one you want to give to them from the beginning. Goes from Noon-7pm and expect to be there a couple of hours at least.
All in all was fun. Great chatting with old tech heads standing in line.

Just left the MS store in Atlanta, they were SWAMPED, by far busier than that other kinda creepy store. There was an estimated 3hr wait (our number was 160 back) so we bailed on the challenge but it is sure bringing some awareness to the phones! Everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun.

I went to the Mall Of America with my girlfriend and her crappy android and we only had to wait 20 mins. My HD7 looked so crappy next to her Titan that I took our old blackberry back the next day and got myself a Titan too. And again, I only needed to wait 20 minutes. Sounds like we got lucky with not having to wait long. Now I get to save my upgrade for windows phone 8 later in the year. Thank you Microsoft!!!!!